Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Loin

 Yes, it is really still winter.  No, we don't want it to be winter, we want the 60 degree weather we had yesterday, not the 30 degree and slipping kind of weather we are having today - with snow flurries.  No, this weather is not my favorite and never will be.  Gray, gloomy days make me gray and gloomy if I am not careful.  Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny - still cold - but sunny.  That is a good thing.

Since it is still winter, we truly appreciate some good comfort food.  I describe comfort food as things that make you feel comforted, satisfied, and feel good.  Sunday evening, the Nashville family came over for dinner and I made this fabulous pork roast with a brown sugar glaze.  It is SOOOO good and really quite easy.  I also made parmesan chicken sticks for the kids which they simply devoured.  You can find the recipe on my blog.

We have six adults and five grandsons who live in town, and food preparation requires some considerations.  We have one really picky eater who happens to be the oldest grandson at 10.  We have a son in love with Celiac, so that is another consideration.  Now, our second daughter has to eat gluten free also.  In the end, we all benefit from gluten free to some degree I am sure, but do you know how many recipes contain gluten?  Way too many.  We don't want anyone falling ill or feeling bad, so we do our best to accommodate.  The good news is there are so many more gluten free products on the market and recipes available.  This recipe called for flour, but I simply substituted corn starch.  To make that accommodation, you simply use 1/2 the amount of flour called for and substitute corn starch.  The recipe called for 2 tablespoons of flour, so simply substitute 1 tablespoon of corn starch.  Easy peasy.

I had a five pound pork roast and knew I wanted to fix it for dinner.  The chicken sticks were easy, but I wanted a different, yet delicious, recipe for the pork.  I found a hum dinger on About.Com in the Southern Food section.  It was easy, I had all the ingredients, so it was a go.  Here is what you need:

1 4.5 to 5 pound boneless pork loin
4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and cut in half
salt and pepper

Glaze

1 and 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1 TBSP corn starch
2 tsp Dijon mustard
3 TBSP balsamic or cider vinegar (I used cider vinegar)

Combine the ingredients in a saucepan, mixing well.  Cook over medium low heat until bubbly.  Stir and set aside.  You may have to reheat slightly before glazing the pork.  It becomes sort of crystalized, so I just spread it on with a spoon.  It will melt in the oven.

Pat the pork loin with paper towels to dry.  Cut the garlic cloves in half.  Make slits on the fat side of the pork loin and push the garlic cloves into the slits.  Lightly salt and pepper on all sides.  Place in a roasting pan, fat side up.  Heat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit.  Roast the pork loin for approximately 2 hours.  Remove the pan from the oven and coat the pork loin with the glaze.  Return to the oven for an additional 30 minutes, occasionally spooning the glaze over the pork until the internal temperature on a meat thermometer is 145 degrees for medium, 160 for well done.

The rule of thumb is to cook 1/2 hour for each pound, therefore, 2.5 hours.  Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 5 minutes before carving.  Spoon all the remaining glaze over the pork.  You don't want to waste a drop of it.

The pork was so juicy and tender, it was amazing.  The glaze provides a wonderful sweet flavor to the pork.  Yum.  Yum.  Dan LOVED this and our daughter asked for the recipe.  Nothing better than successful recipe choices.

Tonight, I used some of the left over pork to make Carnitas.  They were wonderful!!  What a great way to use some of that delicious left over pork and they are super easy to make.

FYI, rinse your roasting pan as soon as you have spooned the remaining glaze over the pork roast.  That stuff sets up like concrete otherwise.  To make cleaning the pan easier if that happens (don't ask me how I know this), reheat the pan and pour the remainder out.  I'm just trying to make your lives easier.  Experience is a good teacher.

There are still a lot of cold days ahead.  It's about 60 days until spring - sigh.  There is lots of time for a lot of good "comfort food" meals.  Give this recipe a try.  I really think you will like it.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

Comfort food - food that reassures - is different things to different people.  David Tanis, A Platter of Figs and Other Recipes

Barbecued Beans and Greens (I Added Sausage- Yum)

 Oooh, it has suddenly gotten cold here in Nashville.  It was below 30 this morning and that meant time to put the flannel sheets on the bed.  One thing led to another, and I ended up cleaning the whole house.  I don't know about you, but that leaves me with a great sense of accomplishment.  I even got my closet all organized (which had needed to be done since we moved in here at the end of July).  That sound you hear?  That's me exhaling a giant sigh.  I just love finally getting things done.

Now that cold weather is really upon us - and it is cold in most of the midwest - don't you wish you had some new recipes for tasty comfort foods that are easy to make?  Well, I've got one for you today.  This recipe is SO good and really easy to make.  Our daughter Holly gave me this recipe after she had it at a party for parents of students at her sons' school.  She told me it was one of the best things she had eaten in a long time, and I have to agree with her!  Even her boys like it and they are most suspicious of new things if you know what I mean.

This recipe is made with  cannellini beans, and kale.  As you may know, kale is the new darling of the health food world and with good reason.  It is full of flavonoids and antioxidants.  Kale is good for reducing cholesterol and helps detoxify our systems.  You can read all about the great health benefits of kale here http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=38.

I added a pound of browned breakfast sausage just to have a one dish meal.  This recipe would be just as good without the sausage, believe me.  The flavors are amazing.  I can see the skeptical look on your face from here.  Beans and greens?  Barbecue sauce?  Seriously?  You are going to have to trust me on this one and give it a try, just so you will know how good this really is.  Yummmmmmo is all I can say.  Here is what you need:

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (white kidney beans are the same thing)
8 cups chopped kale  (1 large or 2 small bunches, stems removed, chopped and blanched)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup barbecue sauce (they recommend Stubbs, I used Sweet Baby Rays - what I had and it's great)
2 tsps hot sauce  (I used Tapatio)
1/2 cup warm water
2 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb. breakfast sausage browned, optional

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

To blanch the kale, remove the stems, chop in small 1-2" pieces,  and place in a steamer basket over boiling water in a pan big enough to hold all the greens.  Cook for just a few minutes.  Kale can be rather chewy, so make sure you cut it in small bite sized pieces.  Mine was cut a little big and next time I will cut it smaller.  It will just make it easier to eat.  That is my only tip.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the onion and saute for about 6 minutes until soft and translucent.  Add the garlic and saute another minute or so.  Add the blanched, chopped kale and cook for a few minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.  

If you are using sausage, brown in a separate pan and add to the above mixture.

If not adding sausage, place everything in a 9" casserole and bake covered for 45 minutes.  If adding sausage, place in a 9 x 13 baking dish, cover and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve.

This is SOOOO good.  You get protein, greens, fiber, and deliciousness from the sauce.  Serve with some hot bread and you are good to go.  The sauce is so good that I will use this for my baked beans from now on.  Amazingly good.

If you want to serve this as a side dish, leave the sausage out and make as recommended.  Just.  Plain.  Awesome.

I really like recipes that are recommended by others who have actually made or eaten them.  Sometimes choosing recipes can be a toss of the dice.  They sound good, but don't always turn out the way you hoped.  Give this one a try.  It is approved by 3 picky small boys and their Pawpaw.  Thanks, Holly!

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

There are two types of people;  those who eat kale and those who should.  Bo Muller-Moore

Pork Loin With Bacon and Brown Sugar Glaze - YUM!

You are looking at a picture of the very last piece of one of the best pork loins I have ever made.  I was in such a tizzy trying to get everything ready for dinner with starving grandsons running everywhere - some were crying they were so hungry - that I forgot to take a picture of that beautiful roast when it came out of the oven.  I was VERY sad.  Everyone had been served when I realized I didn't have one single picture of the finished product.  Fortunately, when I looked in the pan there was one glorious piece left, so that is what you are looking at.  See that glaze?  Amazingly delicious!

The grocery had a special on pork roasts and I got a 5 pound roast for the outstanding price of $9.00.  Wowza, I was excited.  I like to fix dinner for the "in town" family and sometimes it is a challenge to come up with something that will feed everyone without breaking the budget.  Do you ever have that problem?  We have 6 adults and 6 children eating, so it takes quite a bit to fill everyone up, especially the men.

Consider pork loin.  It is delicious, easy to prepare, feeds a lot of people and can be found at a good price if you watch the ads.  There are lots and lots of ways to fix it.  I happened upon this recipe online and didn't write down where I found it.  I think it was at AllGoodRecipes.com and let me tell you, it's a keeper.  First, you make a rub for the pork loin and then cover it with bacon.  I mean, that should be enough right?   But, you also make a wonderful brown sugar glaze to go over it and that just puts it over the top!  The meat was so tender and juicy, just heavenly.  And then the glaze, well you'll just have to make it to find out.  Yummmmmo!

Here is what you need:

1 5 pound pork loin (or somewhere close)
about 5/6 slices of bacon, cut in half
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon

Let your pork loin set out for about 1/2 hour to come to room temperature.  Mix all the spices and rub over the entire pork loin.  Place in a 9x13 baking pan or dish, fat side up,  and cover the pork with the bacon slices.  Try not to overlap the bacon too much so it will cook.  Place in a 350 degree oven and cook for about 1.5 hours.

I did remember to take a picture of the roast just as I put it in the oven.  It was a crazy day.

While the pork is cooking, make the glaze.  Here is what you need:

1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 TBSP flour (I used 1.5 tsp. corn starch so it is gluten free)
2 TBSP cider vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Combine the ingredients in a saucepan and stir until the sugar has melted and everything is combined.  Simmer for one (1) minute.  Remove the loin from the oven after 1.5 hours.  Pour the glaze over the entire roast and return the pan to the oven.  Continue to cook for another 15 - 30 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F.

Remove the pan from the oven and let it sit for a few minutes before slicing and serving. (if you can wait that long)  One look at that crispy bacon on top and you will want to dig right in.

This dish is so fantastic that it could be served at the most elegant dinner party or for a simple family meal.  Oh my, it is so good.  It made me hungry just looking at the picture.  Everyone in the family loved it.  We will be having this again.

Add this recipe to your repertoire.  You will have requests to make it again.  I know if there had been any left, it would have made fantastic leftovers.  Maybe next time.

Everyday Donna

Things to Remember:

There is nothing like sitting around the dinner table with family enjoying good food, laughing, talking and making memories.   

donna